The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776.This is the reason that Americans celebrate July 4th every year as Independence Day: it is our nation’s birthday. The United States had to fight for its freedom from Great Britain in the Revolutionary War. General George Washington led the military forces of the American Revolution. He is known as the “Father of Our Country.” Later he became the first president of the United States. After the colonies won the war, they became states. Each state had its own government.The people in these states wanted to create a new form of government to unite the states into a single nation.Today, this central government, our national government, is called “the federal government.” The United States now consists of 50 states, the District of Columbia (a special area that is the home of the federal government), the territories of Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S.Virgin Islands, and the commonwealths of the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico. Many Americans know these words from the Declaration of Independence by heart: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This means that all people are born with the same basic rights. Government does not create these rights, and no government can take these rights away.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 17:44:35 +0000
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